WOMEN'S STUDIES
BULLETIN

August/September 2004

Table of Contents:
ASSOCIATE OF THE MONTH
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
NEW WOMEN'S STUDIES JOURNAL
NWSA CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY
WOMEN CHANGE AMERICA CONFERENCE
WOMEN IN THE OLYMPICS: A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PREVIEW
MOTHER'S MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP IS ENDOWED!!
ALUMNAE NEWS
WS WELCOMES 3 NEW TEACHING ASSISTANTS AND A VISITING SCHOLAR
UPCOMING EVENTS
SPRING COURSES REMINDER

ASSOCIATE OF THE MONTH
Hana Layson, Assistant Professor of English, is the first associate spotlighted for the 2004-2005 academic year. Layson joined NIU and the Women's Studies Program as an associate last year. She comes from the University of Chicago, where she received both her M.A. and Ph.D. in American Literature, specializing in early American Literature. She received her B.A. from Kenyon College in Ohio.

Layson's primary research interests focus on gender and sexuality, specifically related to both fictional and non-fictional seduction and rape narratives from the late 18th century through the early 19th century. Readers may wonder what "seduction narratives" are. According to Layson, seduction narratives are stories of so-called "fallen" women, unmarried women who have sex, consensually or non-consensually, and afterwards suffer from abandonment, grief, and shame. These narratives were reproduced in very different contexts, such as fiction, newspaper accounts of local scandals, and in "bastard" infanticide cases, where women were charged with murdering their out-of-wedlock children. Layson argues that these sentimental stories represent the woman not as an object of moral condemnation or misogynist humor, but instead solicit sympathy and civil obligation from the readers. Layson uses these narratives to understand the changing roles of femininity and masculinity during a period of great political and social change.

Layson's interest in gender and sexuality research probably developed when she attended a "moderately feminist" all girl's high school near Washington, D.C. She was able to experience protests on abortion rights, while gaining confidence in the classroom. These formative years proved to be a good foundation as she moved on to college and graduate school, becoming involved in Women's Studies courses, student organizations, and activism.

As a new associate, she has already taught a Women's Studies course, "Women Writers: The Tradition in English," last spring. She also hopes that her associate status will encourage both faculty and students to identify her as a resource in Women's Studies. She wants to work more with undergraduate and graduate students in Women's Studies research, especially related to gender and sexuality. She also hopes one day to offer an English course (e.g., Sex and Citizenship) that would encompass her research interests, as she did at Chicago.

For more information on Layson, stop by her office in Zulauf 1018 or check out her webpage at: http://www.engl.niu.edu/people_details.php?pid=227.

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STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Just a reminder: the bulletin now has a regular column highlighting WS students. Minors and graduate students are encouraged to contact our office at 815-753-1044 if they are interested in being interviewed for the spotlight.

For this bulletin, Mishel Filisha is our student spotlight. Filisha has had a breadth of diverse experiences. Currently, she is a graduate student in Sociology and has an undergraduate degree from NIU in Gender and Identity, a contract major through Women's Studies. Before coming to NIU, she was a professional classical and theatrical dancer for seven years, five of which were in New York. And, in between her undergraduate and graduate careers, she spent time in Liverpool and in San Francisco pursuing the business side of the performing industries.

As a student, Filisha tries to maintain her passion for the performing arts, while pursuing her interest in gender and identity. This balance was exemplified in her capstone project for her Honors undergraduate degree. Filisha created an original performance piece that explored women's multiple identities through a series of six monologues, in which each woman explored an aspect of her identity. In totality, the monologues captured the multiple facets of one woman's personality. The pink chair from the performance still sits in Amy Levin's office.

As a graduate student in Sociology, Filisha still tries to maintain that balance between performing and academics. Her research interests lie in sexuality and identity; for her master's thesis she plans to explore the relationship between Third Wave feminism and pornography by contrasting Suicide Girls with Girls Gone Wild. (For those not familiar with Suicide Girls, visit: www.suicidegirls.com). At the same time, Filisha is revisiting and revising her capstone performance piece with the goal of having it performed again. She is also taking a poetry writing course in the fall.

If you are interested in learning more about Filisha, I encourage you to stop by the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, where she serves as a publications assistant for her graduate assistantship.

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NEW WOMEN'S STUDIES JOURNAL
June 2004 was the first issue of Women's Research: Journal of the Center for Women's Studies, published by the University of Tehran, Iran. It is the first academic journal of gender studies in Iran and is available in our conference room in Reavis 103.

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NWSA CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
This past June 17-20, the National Women's Studies Association National Conference was held in Milwaukee.
Amy Levin was delighted to attend a stimulating panel on girls in literature presented by three representatives from NIU-faculty member Diana Swanson and graduate students Lise Schlosser and Sandi Caldrone. Schlosser put together the panel and chaired it. Levin was also pleased by the reception to the new NWSA strategic plan, which she edited. To see the plan, please go to http://www.nwsa.org/strategic.html.

According to Diana Swanson, "I had not been to the NWSA conference for years and after attending the meeting in Milwaukee I was sorry I hadn't! The conference was stimulating and useful, from the book exhibit (lots of new books for classes and research) to the sessions and plenaries. It was particularly useful to be at a conference, which was interdisciplinary. So I am hoping to attend next year's convention and hoping that we'll have an even bigger NIU contingent in Florida."

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WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY
Women's Equality Day was August 26th, 2004. It is the 84th anniversary of women in the United States winning the right to vote. In this Presidential Election Year, let's celebrate the hard-earned women's right to vote and expansion of democracy.

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WOMEN CHANGE AMERICA CONFERENCE
Renowned historian Gerda Lerner and acclaimed authors will keynote the National Women's History Project's Women Change America Conference on September 10-11, 2004, at Smith College in Northampton, MA.
Visit the National Women's History Project's website for conference details or to register online http://www.nwhp.org/network/conference.html. For more information contact: Molly Murphy MacGregor at ednasmolly@aol.com or call 707-636-2888.

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WOMEN IN THE OLYMPICS: A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON
Although women were not allowed to compete in the ancient Olympic Games nor were they involved in the first modern Olympics held in 1896, today women represent more than 40 percent of the total number of athletes competing in Athens. Nevertheless, even as recently as the 1996 games in Atlanta, 97 events were open to women versus 163 events open to men. This year, the percentage of Muslim women competing in the games is a record. Rubab Raza became the first woman to swim for Pakistan at an Olympic Games; Friba Razayee, competing in judo, was the first woman from any sport to represent Afghanistan. This year also marks the first time women are competing in wrestling. To learn more, visit: http://www.olympics.org.uk/olympicmovement/olympicissueswoman.asp.

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WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PREVIEW
This year Women's History Month will focus on the growing debate about the role of body display in feminism. Specifically, Third Wave Feminists and Second Wave Feminists seem to have different perspectives on the importance and definitions of appearance. Recently, the media has discussed this controversy in such instances as comic strips (e.g., Cathy and Prickly City), and in a recent Chicago Tribune article that explored the images of girls in pop culture. We encourage you to discuss this debate in spring courses and to develop relevant assignment options. Ideas for programs during March can be directed to Jolene Skinner at 753-1044 or jskinner@niu.edu. We are looking forward to another great Women's History Month!

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MOTHER'S MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP IS ENDOWED!!
As of May 2004, the Women's Studies Program has endowed its first scholarship, the Mothers Memorial Scholarship Fund! Thank you to the associates and friends of Women's Studies who contributed. And, a special thanks to Lise Schlosser for the successful Mother's Day campaign. Scholarships will be available for the fall semester of 2005.

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ALUMNAE NEWS
In our coming bulletins, we would like to include short items about Women's Studies alumnae. Please help us by contributing any information about our former students that you have.

Rebecca Lederer (minor 1996) is entering her second year of veterinary school at the University of Illinois; Rebekah Kohli (graduate certificate 2004) is teaching art at Waubonsee Community College as well as at NIU.

Mary Shelden (graduate certificate 2003) is the assistant editor for NIU's Writings of Henry D. Thoreau Project. Kelli Lyon-Johnson (graduate certificate 2003) is an Assistant Professor of English at Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio.

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WS WELCOMES 3 NEW TEACHING ASSISTANTS AND A VISITING SCHOLAR
The start of the fall semester brings back our wonderful TAs. This year we have an extra TA in order to accommodate our growing student body. Sandi Caldrone is our only returning TA. Welcome back, Sandi!

Our first new TA, Caroline Conley, joins us from the English Department. Conley received her first undergraduate degree from Truman State University in Exercise Science (2000), but decided to pursue a career in teaching instead of the medical sciences. During her postgraduate work in the English department at NIU, she became increasingly interested in Women's Studies. She is interested in how the life experiences of women around the world are recorded and remembered. She hopes to teach English abroad and pursue her growing interest in global feminisms.

Our second new Lauren Whalen, graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2002 with a dual B.A. in Theatre and Communication, and a minor in Women's Studies. While at Loyola, she appeared in six mainstage productions (including The Vagina Monologues), and performed at the Goodman Theatre of Chicago and on Chicago public access television. Whalen is currently a second-year student at Northern Illinois University College of Law. Her interests include performing, film and reading.

Our third new TA, Christina Shaw, is a first year graduate student and a teaching assistant in Women's Studies and in the Department of Communication. For the fall 2004 semester she is also teaching COM 203 - Interpersonal Communication. She did her undergraduate degree at the University of Miami, Ohio. After graduation, she moved to Nashville and played music for a living for three years. In 2003, she started seriously reconsidering a career in academia and after much contemplation, has returned to school to pursue a graduate degree and career in teaching.

Finally, Hanan Abdel Latif Hegazi is our visiting scholar for the 2004-05 academic year. Hegazi is an Assistant Lecturer at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. She is also a member of an Egyptian Channel Program, which has funded her trip to Northern Illinois University. The Channel Program enables scholars to have two dissertation supervisors, one from Egypt, and for Hegazi, one from America. This year she will work with Dr. Amy Levin on her thesis in African-American Literature, focusing on Margaret Walker's poetry. Hegazi is working toward her Ph.D. in English and American Literature, with an emphasis in poetry.

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UPCOMING EVENTS
The Faculty Associates Fall Social is Wednesday, September 8, 2004, from 4:00-5:30 p.m. For more information, call 753-1038. We welcome new faculty at this event. The Young Women's Conference will be held Wednesday, October 20, 2004. Associates who are interested in having lunch with the girls or volunteering for the event should contact Jolene Skinner at 753-1044.

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SPRING COURSES REMINDER
If you will be teaching a spring course that counts for WOMS credit, please notify us at 815.753.1038 as soon as possible.

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